Taoist Herbs

The Tradition Lives On with Ancestral Foods

Thousands of years ago, when China was still wilderness, the human inhabitants foraged for food in the jungles, the mountains, and the plains. They ate whatever they found: fruit, nuts, herbs, roots, bugs, game, and so on. In the process they not only ate a large variety of foods, fresh and in season, but they also sought out special healing foods to help them with injuries, illnesses, and special physiological conditions, such as pregnancy and lactation.

The March of Progress

Gradually, as the inhabitants grew in number and acquired farming technology, they cleared the jungles, farmed the land, and built villages. Instead of foraging over a wide area, they came to rely on foods they grew in their back yards, or at most within a short distance away. Their food sources became much more restricted in variety, but also restricted in particular ways. For example, they did not cultivate ginseng, which is very slow-growing and strong-tasting. Instead they cultivated carrots, which grow quickly, easily, and provide a lot of calories. Foods which had been a minor but important part of the diet, such as ginseng, continued to grow in the wild. But they became increasingly inaccessible. In time they became forgotten foods.

Remembered Foods

But they were never completely forgotten. Sages and healers, and eventually scholars, kept the tradition alive and even elaborated on it. During the reign of the Yellow Emperor, some 5,500 years ago, there was a concerted effort to go back to the jungles and find these forgotten foods, to experiment with them, and to determine how they should be best used for healing and for maintaining health. It appears that the emperor himself participated in these experiments and ultimately died as a result of an experiment gone wrong.

But the tradition did not die. Much of the information lay dormant for a time, but some aspects of it continued to be practiced as an integral part of traditional Chinese medicine. And gradually, the ancient texts have been rediscovered and translated. Dr. Stephen Chang has been at the forefront of this revival. His forebears were physicians to the Emperor. He himself was trained in western medicine, as a cardiologist. But when he encountered a personal health crisis, western medicine was no help, and he turned to traditional methods, for himself, and eventually for his patients.

Combination Remedies

In researching the ancient texts, Dr. Chang found that, in the classic tradition, herbs were always administered in combination, especially if their effects were strong. To get a beneficial result, it was necessary to direct, balance, and complement the effects of each specific herb. To determine the exact composition of a particular formula could be the life work of a sage. Dr. Chang eventually unearthed — literally — hundreds of these formulas. He selected several dozen that he felt were most appropriate for use in the west and arranged for them to be commercially produced, and marketed. Dr. Chang also developed a line of products for the care of the skin and the hair, and these have become very popular in Hollywood. Of particular interest is a salve called jade cream, which has very powerful healing properties.

The Tradition Lives On

Dr. Chang has written half a dozen books on Chinese medicine and related subjects. His book on acupuncture is a classic, and has been used as a textbook by Harvard Medical School. For more about Forgotten Foods and Chinese medicine in general, the best single resource is The Great Tao, available through Tao Publishing, San Francisco.

Dr. Chang is now retired from practice, but he has trained a number of practitioners to carry on his work and to advise others on the use of his products. Dr. Gita Elgin and Dr. Bart Bödy were trained by him in this area.

Taoist Herbs: ($42.00/bottle)